Flash-light device



P.'c. SMALLEY.

FLASH LIGHT DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29' 1919.

1,346,138. Patented July 13,1920.

A TTOHNE Y.

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' star PAUL G. iBIMALLE-Y, 0E NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

v FLASH-LIG'H'I' DEVICE.

To all whom ma concern:

Be it hown t at 1, PAUL C. SMALLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful improvements in llash-Light Devices, of which the following is a' full, clear, and exactdescription, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itpertains to make, construct, and use the same, reference being had. tothe accompanying drawings, and to numerals of reference marked thereon,forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to search lights or flash lights, and the principalobject of the invention is to provide a lens made of glass or othertransparent material of peculiar construction, the employment of whichwill efi'ectively insulate the reflector from the casing without the useof any other insulating means thereby preventing the shortcircuiting ofthe battery.

The employment of my improved lens, also enables me to dispense with theusual screw threaded annular lens retaining member which has screwthreaded engagement with the end of the metallic tubular casingcontaining the. cylindrical batteries by means of which the lens iscommonly fastened in said annular member and to said casing, therebyreducing the actual number of parts comprising an operative device to anirreducible minimunn.

With search lights or flash lights ofthe construction hitherto used, theamount of battery power which can be obtained, is necessarily not great,and it quite frequently happens when devices of this character areemployed for work about machinery, etc., and the device is not in use,it is often placed in a tool box or in association'with metal tools,where frequently the tools will complete the connection, or suchconnection will be completed by the metallic parts of the machine, andthe-energy of the battery expended. uselessly, by causing the lamp toburn for hours without the knowledge of the operator and to no usefulpurpose. W1th the construction of the lens of the present invention,this is absolutely impossible.

With this end in view, my invention consists in certain novelties ofconstruction and arrangements of parts and is productive of a deviceexceedingly simple and effective in Specification of Letters Patent.

construction, comparatively inexpensive in cost and durable in use.

While the preferred forms of my invention are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, yet it is to be understood, that minor changesmay be made without departing from the scope thereof.

in the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 represents a cross section through an embodiment of myinvention, illustrating the batteries and lamp in eleration.

Fig. 2 represents a fragmentary cross section of a modified form of myinvention.

Fig. 3 represents a fragmentary side elevation of another modified formof my invention, and

Fig. t represents a transverse cross section taken on line aa-a, Fig. 3,looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the abovedescribed views to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the said drawings, the reference character 1 indicatesa metallic tubular casing containing the cylindrical batteries 2, thoughof course thiscasing may be of any convenient form, or other suitablematerial. 3 represents a screw threaded closure, having screw-threadedengagement with the bottom' of the casing 1-, wherein a coiled spring 4is seated for contacting with the zinc electrode of one of thebatteries.

.The top of the casing 1 is preferably screw threaded to receive thescrew threaded portion of the lens 5 by means of which the lens may befastened in the casing 1. The reflector 6 is provided with the usualcentral opening into which the lamp socket 7 of the lamp 8 is mounted byany suitable means. The base part 9 of the lamp forms one of the poles,the other pole being shown at 10. When mounted in the casing, one poleof the battery is connected to the casing through the spring 4;, asdescribed, and the other pole 11 of the battery is connected di rectlyto the terminal 10 of the lamp, leav-' therewith, and which is slidablein said caslatented July i3, 192% Application filed march 29, 1919.Serial No. 286,186.

ing to en age the reflector 6, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2 or thedrawings. The end 13 of the movable member 12 is turned up to form asliding contact with the reflector, so as to insure a bright surface,due to the rubbing of the end 13 over the reflector 6, and thereby agood contact.

Suitable means for operating the memdrawings and fully described andclaimed in Patent 1,210,225 granted to me on December 26, 1916, thisannular recess being designed to receive the circumferential edge of thereflector 6, thus providing means formed in the lens to prevent thereflector from touching the casing, thereby positively insulating thelamp and battery terminals one from the other, until it is desired tocomplete the circuit therethrough.

In this manner the edge of the reflector is effectively insulated fromthe casing and the current is prevented from shunting through thereflector withou the use of any other insulating means th eby positivelypreventing the short-circuiting of the battery.

As heretofore stated, by providing the inner or outer peripheralsurfaces 16 and 17 of the lens 5 with screw threads corresponding withthe screw threaded end of the casing 1, I am thereby enabled to fastenthe lens to said casing without employing the usual screw threadedannular lens retaining member, thereby reducing the actual number ofpants and the actual cost of manufacture to a minimum.

I have also found that the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of thedrawings is very eflective for securing the lens 5 to the casing 1,which consists in providing the circumferential outer surface of thelens casing with protuberances and the lens with recesses.

Experience has demonstrated that the organization above described is ahighly efficient one, and while I have shown the preferred embodiment ofmy present invention, I do not wish to be limited to the exact detailsof construction shown and described, as obvious modifications thereof,not involving the exercise of invention, may be made by any skilledmechanic, and such departure from what is herein set forth, I considerwithin the scope and terms of my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. In a flash light device of the classdescribed, the combination of a casing, batteries and a lamp therein, acontact device for establishing electrical connections between saidbatteries and said lamp, a lens provided with integral holding means forsecuring it to said casing and means on the lens for positioning areflector circumferentially free within said casing and insulating thereflector from said casing.

2. In a flash light device of the class described, the combination of acasing, batteries and a lamp therein, a contact device for establishingelectrical connections between said batteries and said lamp, a recessedlens for positioning a reflector circumferentially free within saidcasing provided with a screw threaded portion for securing it to thecasing and insulating the reflector from said casing.

This specification signed and witnessed this 25th day on March, 1919.

PAUL C. SMALLEY.

- Witnesses:

FRED?K G. Idrscrrnn, FERDINAND None.

